Chapter 2

Three years passed.

Three years of strained smiles and careful silences.

Marcus kept his promise about Chloe, mostly. She was out of sight, a ghost in our marriage.

We tried for a baby.

Month after month, hope turned to disappointment.

The doctors were gentle but firm. My chances were slim.

Then, news broke: civil unrest in a small Eastern European country where Marcus was attending a tech summit.

Communications were down.

Panic seized me.

I didn' t think, I just acted.

I chartered a private jet, flew into a city teetering on the brink of chaos.

Gunfire echoed in the distance.

I found the hotel where the summit delegates were, or had been. It was half-empty, soldiers everywhere.

Someone told me a group, including Marcus, had been moved to a safer location, a private compound outside the city.

I bribed a driver, my heart pounding against my ribs.

The compound was guarded, tense.

And there, in a courtyard, I saw him.

Marcus.

He was shielding Chloe.

And two small children, twins, clinging to her legs.

Chloe was pregnant again, her belly round and full.

The world stopped.

Not one child. Three. And another on the way.

This wasn' t a mistake. This was a life. A secret family.

My legs felt weak.

Marcus saw me. His eyes widened, a flicker of fear, then something hard.

Chloe looked at me, a small, knowing smile playing on her lips.

On the private jet back to the US, the silence was thick, suffocating.

Then Marcus spoke, his voice low, pleading.

"Elara, try to understand."

Chloe sat beside him, holding his hand.

"I need heirs, Elara. You know that. My legacy."

He looked at me, his eyes desperate. "You… you can' t provide them."

Each word was a blow.

"Chloe… she can be like a surrogate. Or a nanny. The children will know you as their mother. Your position as my wife, that' s secure. Nothing has to change for us."

I stared at him, numb.

In my purse, a small, white stick.

Two pink lines.

Positive. After all these years.

I' d been planning to tell him, a surprise, a new beginning.

My hand trembled as I reached into my purse, my fingers closing around the test.

Silently, I pulled it out, hidden in my palm.

I looked at his face, then at Chloe' s smug one.

Slowly, deliberately, I broke the test in half, then again, the pieces falling into my lap.

He didn' t notice.

I took out my phone.

I scrolled to a number I hadn' t called in years.

Liam.

He answered on the first ring.

"Liam," I said, my voice barely a whisper. "You told me once you owe me a life."

A pause. Then, his voice, calm, steady. "I do."

"It' s time," I said. "It' s time to save mine."